The Will to Climb: Obsession and Commitment and the Quest to Climb Annapurna - the World's Deadliest Peak

The best-selling author of No Shortcuts to the Top and K2 chronicles his three attempts to climb the world's tenth-highest and statistically deadliest peak, Annapurna in the Himalaya, while exploring the dramatic and tragic history of others who have made - or attempted - the ascent, and what these exploits teach us about facing life's greatest challenges.

No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World's 14 Highest Peaks

For 18 years, Ed Viesturs pursued climbing's holy grail: to stand atop the world's 14 8,000-meter peaks, without the aid of bottled oxygen. But No Shortcuts to the Top is as much about the man who would become the first American to achieve that goal as it is about his stunning quest. As Viesturs recounts the stories of his most harrowing climbs, he reveals a man torn between the flat, safe world he and his loved ones share and the majestic and deadly places where only he can go.

Dark Summit: The True Story of Everest's Most Controversial Season

In early May 2006, a young British climber named David Sharp lay dying near the top of Mount Everest while forty other climbers walked past him on their way to the summit. A week later, Lincoln Hall, a seasoned Australian climber, was left for dead near the same spot. Hall's death was reported around the world, but the next day he was found alive after spending the night on the upper mountain with no food and no shelter.

The Climb

The Climb is a true, gripping, and thought-provoking account of the worst disaster in the history of Mt. Everest: On May 10, 1996, two commercial expeditions headed by experienced leaders attempted to climb the highest mountain in the world, but things went terribly wrong...

Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

When Edmund Hillary first conquered Mt. Everest, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay was at his side. Indeed, for as long as Westerners have been climbing the Himalaya, Sherpas have been the unsung heroes in the background. In August 2008, when eleven climbers lost their lives on K2, the world’s most dangerous peak, two Sherpas survived. They had emerged from poverty and political turmoil to become two of the most skillful mountaineers on earth. Based on unprecedented access and interviews, Buried in the Sky reveals their astonishing story for the first time.

In 1967, 12 young men attempted to climb Alaska's MountMcKinley - known to the locals as Denali - one of the most popular and deadly mountaineering destinations in the world. Only five survived. Journalist Andy Hall, son of the park superintendent at the time, investigates the tragedy. He spent years tracking down survivors, lost documents, and recordings of radio communications. In Denali's Howl, Hall reveals the full story.

Into Thin Air

The definitive, personal account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed journalist and author of Into the Wild. Read by the author. Also, hear a Fresh Air interview with Krakauer conducted shortly after his ordeal.

The Summit

On 1 August, 2008, 18 climbers from across the world reached the summit of K2, the world's second-highest and most dangerous mountain - a peak that claims the life of one in every four climbers who attempt it. Over the course of 28 hours K2 had exacted a deadly toll: 11 lives were lost in a series of catastrophic accidents.

Touching the Void

Joe Simpson, with just his partner, Simon Yates, tackled the unclimbed West Face of the remote 21,000-foot Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in June of 1995. But before they reached the summit, disaster struck. A few days later, Simon staggered into Base Camp, exhausted and frostbitten, to tell their non-climbing companion that Joe was dead. For three days he wrestled with guilt as they prepared to return home. Then a cry in the night took them out with torches, where they found Joe, badly injured.

Forever on the Mountain

In the summer of 1967, an Arctic hurricane trapped seven veteran climbers, members of Joe Wilcox's 12-man expedition, at 20,000 feet on Alaska's Mount McKinley. Ten days passed while the storm raged. Despite the availability of massive resources, no rescue was mounted, and all seven men died. The tragedy was one of the most controversial, bitterly contested, and mysterious tragedies in all of mountaineering history.

Ghosts of K2

At 28,251 feet, K2 might be almost 800 feet shorter than Everest, but it’s a far harder climb. It will kill you on the way up and the way down. Mick Conefrey guides us through the early story of the legendary mountain and the extraordinary attempts that led up to its first ascent in 1954 - these are tales of riveting drama and unimaginable tragedy.

Epic: Stories of Survival from the World's Highest Peaks

"Epic" is a mountaineering term that evokes a sense of treacherous disaster. The climb that went wrong: fighting blinding snowstorms and horrific avalanches; days spent tentbound running low on food, water, and oxygen; surviving broken bones and shattered spirits. This program offers a collection of the most memorable accounts of legend-making expeditions to the world's most famous peaks, often in the worst possible conditions.

Just for the Love of It

Cathy has captured the drama of her Everest climbs, her passion for the challenge of climbing mountains, and her love for wild places in this story of her four attempts on the mountain. Cathy tries to answer the question of why, if climbing Everest can be so dangerous, people still want to do it.

Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration

On January 17, 1913, alone and near starvation, Douglas Mawson, leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, was hauling a sledge to get back to base camp - the dogs were gone. Mawson plunged through a snow bridge, dangling over an abyss by the sledge harness. A line of poetry gave him the will to haul himself back to the surface. On February 8, when he staggered back to base, his features unrecognizable, the first teammate to reach him blurted out, "Which one are you?"

The Boys of Everest

This gripping story of courage, achievement, and heartbreaking loss tells of Bonington's Boys, a band of climbers who reinvented mountaineering during the three decades after Everest's first ascent. Chris Bonington's inner circle included a dozen of the most renowned climbers, who took increasingly terrible risks on now legendary expeditions to the world's most fearsome peaks, and paid an enormous price. Most of them died in the mountains, leaving behind the hardest question of all: was it worth it?

Alone on the Wall

Only a few years ago, Alex Honnold was little known beyond a small circle of hardcore climbers. Today, at the age of 30, he is probably the most famous adventure athlete in the world. In that short time, he has proven his expertise in many styles of climbing and has shattered speed records, pioneered routes, and won awards within each discipline. More spectacularly still, he has pushed the most extreme and dangerous form of climbing far beyond the limits of what anyone thought was possible.

How to Mount Aconcagua: A Mostly Serious Guide to Climbing the Tallest Mountain Outside the Himalayas

A mostly serious guide to climbing the tallest mountain in the Western and Southern Hemispheres, this efficient book includes a hilarious day-by-day account, with detailed descriptions of the challenges facing a climber on Aconcagua, such as when to wear your Crocs, which pop music divas to enjoy, and the challenges of pooping at high altitude. Everything you need to know about what it's like to attempt to summit Aconcagua is in this audiobook, served up on a tasty bed of humor.

Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest

In this magisterial work of history and adventure, based on more than a decade of prodigious research in British, Canadian, and European archives, and months in the field in Nepal and Tibet, Wade Davis vividly re-creates British climbers’ epic attempts to scale Mount Everest in the early 1920s. With new access to letters and diaries, Davis recounts the heroic efforts of George Mallory and his fellow climbers to conquer the mountain in the face of treacherous terrain and furious weather.

Publisher's Summary

A thrilling chronicle of the tragedy-ridden history of climbing K2, the world's most difficult and unpredictable mountain, by the best-selling author of No Shortcuts to the Top.

At 28,251 feet, the world's second-tallest mountain, K2 thrusts skyward out of the Karakoram Range of northern Pakistan. Climbers regard it as the ultimate achievement in mountaineering, with good reason. Four times as deadly as Everest, K2 has claimed the lives of 77 climbers since 1954.

In August 2008, 11 climbers died in a single 36-hour period on K2 - the worst single-event tragedy in the mountain's history and the second-worst in the long chronicle of mountaineering in the Himalaya and Karakoram ranges. Yet summiting K2 remains a cherished goal for climbers from all over the globe.

Before he faced the challenge of K2 himself, Ed Viesturs, one of the world's premier high-altitude mountaineers, thought of it as "the holy grail of mountaineering". In K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain, Viesturs explores the remarkable history of the mountain and of those who have attempted to conquer it. At the same time he probes K2's most memorable sagas in an attempt to illustrate the lessons learned by confronting the fundamental questions raised by mountaineering - questions of risk, ambition, loyalty to one's teammates, self-sacrifice, and the price of glory.

Viesturs knows the mountain firsthand. He and renowned alpinist Scott Fischer climbed it in 1992 and were nearly killed in an avalanche that sent them sliding to almost certain death. Fortunately, Ed managed to get into a self-arrest position with his ice ax and stop both his fall and Scott's.

Focusing on seven of the mountain's most dramatic campaigns, from his own troubled ascent to the 2008 tragedy, Viesturs crafts an edge-of-your-seat narrative that climbers and armchair travelers alike will find unforgettably compelling. With photographs from Viesturs's personal colle...

Maybe. It was a fascinating story, especially since I didn't know much about mountaineering beforehand and was way more familiar with Mt. Everest. There were a lot of wisdom gems about living life.

What did you like best about this story?

I like learning about the history of nearly anything, but I had never read about the history of mountaineering before. Seeing "Everest" in 2015 piqued my interest in other 8000ers, and after researching a bit, I figured this book would be a good entrance into the subject, and I was right. I liked how Viesturs writing made everything understandable and relatable. Given how lazy I tend to be, I didn't expect to see myself in any of the climbers he mentioned, but surprisingly, I did; I found I could empathize quite a bit.

Clear headed, well balanced writing that includes historical story telling about this facinating mountain and the human persuits of climbing it from beginning. Ed's personal endevours are painted with a humble and realistic touch that leaves me full of awe and respect of the natures wonders (in this case the awsome K2). Also that the human ego has no place in it.

Would you consider the audio edition of K2 to be better than the print version?

I've never ready to print version so I can't be sure. Either way, the audio version is excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

What was one of the most memorable moments of K2?

It's hard to identify a single moment. Hearing about all the difficult circumstances while climbing the mountain is what makes the book so riveting. You learn the history of K2 and get firsthand perspective on how difficult and scary it is to actually climb it. In my opinion, better (and safer) than climbing it yourself.

What about Fred Sanders’s performance did you like?

Sander's does a solid job in narrating this book. I don't know what Ed Viesturs sounds like in person, but Sanders made me believe that Viesturs was talking to me in my car every day.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes and no. The story was fascinating but the historical spread and detail had my head swirling at different points. The desire was there but the will was weak.

The three words I would use to sum up K2 would be interesting, tragic and technical.

What about Fred Sanders’s performance did you like?

He has a nice voice for narrating books and was easy to listen to.

Any additional comments?

The book was interesting overall, but I felt that the book was more about the mistakes made rather than the drama of the events on K2. It wasn't quite the story I expected, but it was a good one, nonetheless. I suspect that if I knew more about climbing mountains, it would be more exciting.

I like mountain climbing books. My husband does not. His attitude is that if you have read one you have read them all. "We climbed a mountain and then it all went to hell." The more I thought about it, the more I agree with him but I don't care. I still like mountain climbing books and this was one of the better ones. Worth the credit.

Intriguing stories of adventures of K2. The author Ed Viesturs states many times that he would never tell anyone how to climb a particular mountain, and that no team member should air dirty laundry in the press. Yet, that is all he does. Constantly during the book he criticizes other teams decisions and spreads rumors of different mountaineers even to imply that some married persons were having an affair on K2. What a hypocrite! Really disappointed.

Loved it!! I've read a lot of books on climbing, and thought I knew quite a lot about K2, but this told me so much I didn't know, plus a re-interpretation of previous climbs from Visteurs' personal experience. Fascinating and well written. Could hardly bear to put it down/switch it off. Will get his other book now in the hope its just as good.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

D7Soay

Village outside Inverness

1/24/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Excellent history of climbing K to"

This book has brought together many other books and shown in Monbulk the total history of planning and Kate to the ups and downs and she again year of this Mt even Liberty the tenants mother few women that tempted to climb gay K2 The awful danger and reliability of the mountains and many well-known climbers the used different techniques alpine Everest hell solo without oxygen et cetera The fact that ratio what are use this matter has highest attempt to death rate in the hole because Emily is good history good read and brings together many famous books go together into one good read. As exclaim I enjoyed it thoroughly and hope that people will take something away from it to especially the joy of climbing on the challenge you face

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

D. J. Pritchard

Chester, UK

11/8/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Fascinating chronicle of the difficulties of K2"

Possibly a little self centered but nevertheless the thoroughness of the research needed to give such an enlightening insight into the challenges and tragedies of K2 can only be applauded. I was hooked from the moment I started listening.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

S. Pope

UK

10/16/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Gripping and Fascinating"

I loved this audio book. It is gripping and thoroughly interesting but in a non-sensationalist or glorifying way. It is honest and heart felt with genuine opinion. It describes many feelings and sentiments that I can easily imagine given the descriptive accounts. excellent.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Alan

Scotland

4/10/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"k2"

well read with tons of detail and theory a well researched book , enjoyed it very much

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Andrew

8/22/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"It's so dull I didn't get past 40 mins"

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

Someone who already knows a lot about mountaineering, K2 specifically, and is familiar with the stories around those who have successfully made the journey as well as those who did not.

What was most disappointing about Ed Viesturs and David Roberts ’s story?

You need to be an expert in the topic already - if you're not (I'm not) then it quickly sounds like meaningless base camp codes, altitudes, names and years. The author refers to his own expertise enough times that it just comes across as self-flagellation and an 'I wouldn't have done it like that' approach to the stories of those who died trying to conquer K2.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Yes, unfortunately

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from K2?

I wasn't interested enough to listen any longer. I don't think I even got past chapter 1 of 8.